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The blitz and New Perspectives

Discussion in 'The Blitz' started by Jim, Dec 11, 2006.

  1. Jim

    Jim Active Member

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    One of the most enduring images of Britain at war is that of bombed cities and towns, the destruction and devastation caused by aerial bombardment, whether from Luftwaffe planes or from the rocket bombs developed late in the war by Germany. The real Blitz covered a nine month period from September 1940 until May 1941, during which 43,000 British civilians lost their lives. By June 1941 German planes were needed to fight elsewhere with the opening of a second front as Germany attacked its former ally, the Soviet Union.
    Later raids in 1942, the so-called Baedeker raids came in retaliation for the saturation bombing of German cities such as Cologne. The final threat from the skies came with the development of the V-rockets. These unmanned rockets, nicknamed 'doodlebugs' or 'buzz bombs', could be fired during daylight hours from bases in France, reaching a large area of southern England. The D-Day landings and the liberation of France put paid to the V-rocket menace.
    The Blitz began in earnest on the 7thSeptember 1940 with the first in a series of attacks on London which lasted for fifty-six days. Initially the raids took place during the day and night but German losses were large and after a week the bulk of the bombing took place under cover of darkness. The raids up to the 15th September were part of the strategy to defeat and destroy the RAF in order to clear the skies of British planes to protect German troop ships in an invasion from the sea.
    After the 15th September the other platforms in the Germans strategies became important. As the home of the British Government it was intended that bombing the capital would damage the administrative heart and thus the conduct of the war. However, the symbolic importance of damage to London, the centre of Britain, the Commonwealth and the Empire could not be overestimated. Much of the bombing was centred on the Port of London, damaging shipping and causing many civilian casualties. Part of the intended results by the High Commands on both sides was that the death and destruction caused by bombing would severely damage morale and that the populations would urge their governments to sue for peace.
    Casualties in London, while high, 13,000 killed and 20,000 injured in September and October alone, were reduced by the availability of deep shelters in the London Underground system. Tube stations became the preferred shelters, although initially the government were averse to the system being used for this purpose, believing it would seriously compromise the Underground's ability to function. Government were also anxious that a 'deep shelter mentality' did not develop. However, public demand and the clear evidence that the city and its people could still function, changed their minds.

    A new perspective of St Paul's revealed when demolition crews dynamited dangerous buildings in Newgate Street.

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    Life for most Londoners during the closing months of 1940 became a relentless routine of going into shelters almost as soon as dusk fell, sleeping or dozing through the night, listening to the raids outside and emerging in the morning to see the extent of the damage. Days were spent at work, or clearing up the remains of bombed homes and workplaces, or trying to look after a family at home or, for those made homeless, in temporary accommodation in public buildings such as schools and church halls.
    One of the most devastating raids on London took place right at the end of the year. It was a Sunday night and the Thames was at its lowest ebb tide. High explosive parachute mines severed the water mains at the beginning of the raid, during which more than 10,000 firebombs were dropped on the City of London. The result was the second Fire of London. One of the most powerful images of the war was captured that night - the image of St Paul's standing untouched amid the flames and smoke. It was taken from the roof of the Daily Mail building by photographer Herbert Mason.
    London suffered many more nights of bombing over the next few months until May 1941. On the night of May 11th over 500 Luftwaffe planes dropped hundreds of high explosive bombs and tens of thousands of incendiary devices. Many important London landmarks were damaged that night, including the chamber of the House of Commons and Big Ben. This was the last great bombing raid on London, although the fear of the attackers returning remained for many years.
    The last raid on London was the culmination of a spring bombing offensive which saw many British cities and towns targeted. The provinces had not been spared bombing and some, like the ancient cathedral city of Coventry, suffered nights of bombing just as intense as that on the capital. After a raid on 14th November 1940 Coventry's cathedral was almost entirely reduced to rubble, along with many other buildings in the city centre. The Luftwaffe had dropped 600 tons of high explosives and thousands of incendiaries from a squad of around 400 bombers.

    Just over a year on and the area around the cathedral is still being cleared. The salvaged bricks from Ludgate Hill and Pilgrim Street were used to build water dams

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    The Coventry bombing was part of a change in tactic by German High Command. As well as raiding the symbolic heart of the nation, the industrial base of the country was targeted in an attempt to destroy the means by which Britain could continue to prosecute the war. Birmingham, Sheffield, Manchester, Glasgow and other centres of aircraft, military vehicle, weapon and munitions production suffered devastating raids. So too did the ports like Southampton, Bristol and Liverpool as the naval dockyards and navy and merchant ships were targeted.
    Demoralising the British public was a major aim in all the bombing and it was indeed a frightening experience for many. Bombing affected everyone's life. Loss of life, loss of homes, loss of workplaces, loss of important civic landmarks, loss of sleep, loss of peace of mind, for you could never be sure when the bombers might strike and what it was you might lose. Nevertheless, while the population lived with that fear, it did not become demoralised. In fact, it almost contributed to the reverse effect, the sense of a nation pulling together, for bombs did not discriminate, no one, not even the King and Queen in Buckingham Palace, was spared the effects or the fear.
     

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